By Alan Irving

Last updated 11:32, Friday, 13 June 2008

RESIDENTS on one of Whitehaven’s original housing estates at Greenbank have been promised their homes will not have to be knocked down after all – but no new houses will be built.

Home win

Copeland Homes told The Whitehaven News: “We are very mindful that the residents won’t want their homes demolished, and they will not be demolished.”

It means the remaining 118 Greenbank houses under the tenancy of Copeland Homes will stay put and be modernised to high standards over the next three years.

But at the same time the householders have been told that ground conditions on the estate are not stable enough for any new homes to be built – and the geological survey has also thrown up a new snag.

The “bridge rooms” adjoining the houses will need to be strengthened to ensure they stay safe for the future.

If the structures have to come down then the extra bedroom or bathroom they provide in most cases would be lost.

The ground survey has shown it would not be possible to build extensions.

Greenbank Community Association which has been battling for more than two years to discover whether or not their homes would have to be knocked down has received the news with mixed feelings.

“We are delighted on the one hand,” said the association’s treasurer, Ann Maudling “but on the other there are obviously a lot of problems with the bridge rooms and we don’t know for sure what’s going to happen. We have been told at a meeting by Copeland Homes that the bridges are past their sell by date so there are no guarantees. We were also told that things are all right for the moment.

“We are pleased that the houses are going to be improved but we have just heard about a house at Woodhouse which has been improved and is still going to be knocked down.”

Copeland Homes said: “Our intention is not to demolish the Greenbank houses but to bring them up to the government’s decent homes standard by 2010.

“This will include what we call programmable heating systems to reduce fuel costs, kitchens and bathrooms that may need replaced, doors and windows where necessary and any electrical work that has to be done.

“We have listened to the residents and want to do the best we can by everybody concerned.

“The situation with the bridge rooms is not ideal, it is an engineering issue, it will take some time to resolve, but we will be looking at solutions. It may be that the bridges can be re-built or remodelled in some way.”

During the 1980s, about 12 of the Woodhouse houses had to be demolished due to subsidence from old mine workings on the estate.